Bottle-Type Plastic Container Having an Integrated Hand-Grip

ABSTRACT

The bottle-shaped plastic container comprises a hollow body with an integrated hand-grip. The hand-grip is constituted by a palm-recess and two opposite finger-recesses; said palm-recess has preferably a depth of at least 5 mm; said two opposite finger-recesses are an extension of the bottom of said palm-recess, and the bottom of said palm-recess comprising ribs that extend in the finger-recesses.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to bottle-shaped plastic containerscomprising an integrated hand-grip.

PRIOR ART

Plastic bottle-shaped containers, such as, for example, PET bottles, arewidely used for storing different kind of products.

In order to facilitate the handling of said plastic containers, it isknown to date to provide these containers with a specific handle.

Pursuant to a first known technical solution, the handle is a add-onpiece that is fixed, e.g. welded, onto the hollow body of the container.This solution is however costly, because it involves the manufacture ofa separate handle and an additional manufacturing step for fixing thehandle onto the hollow body of the container.

A second and advantageous technical solution consists in manufacturingplastic containers having an integrated pinch-grip handle. Saidintegrated handle is essentially constituted by two opposite recessesmade in two opposite sidewalls of the hollow body of the container. Thissolution is described, for example, in European patent applications EP 1459 990 and EP 1 431 190, and in U.S. Pat. No. 6,739,467.

The pinch-grip plastic containers described in these publications arehowever not completely satisfactory. When the user handles thesepinch-grip containers by pinching the container in his hand, the thumbof the hand's user being put in one recess and the four remainingfingers of the hand's user being put in the opposite recess, there is ahigh tendency of the container to slip and to escape from the hand'suser under the weight of the container, especially when the container isfilled. Furthermore, the rigidity of these integrated hand grips isweak. These known structures of pinch-grip plastic containers are thusnot really suitable for making containers having a large filling volume(i.e. typically containers having a filling volume of 2 litres or more).

OBJECTIVES OF THE INVENTION

One main objective of the invention is to obtain a bottle-type plasticcontainer having an integrated hand-grip that improves the handling ofthe container.

A further and optional objective of the invention is to obtain abottle-type plastic container having a fill volume of at least 3 litresand comprising an integrated hand-grip that improves the handling ofsuch a large-sized container.

A further and optional objective of the invention is to obtain abottle-type plastic container having an integrated hand-grip thatimproves the handling of the container, said container beingmanufactured by injection-stretch blow moulding.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The plastic container of the invention comprises a hollow body with anintegrated hand-grip. Said hand-grip is constituted by a palm-recess andtwo opposite finger-recesses; said two opposite finger-recesses are anextension of the bottom of said palm-recess; the bottom of saidpalm-recess comprises ribs that extend in the finger-recesses.

Other additional and optional technical characteristics of the inventionare mentioned in the claims.

SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear moreclearly on reading the following detailed description which is made byway of non-exhaustive and non-limiting example, and with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 are perspective views of a bottle-type container madein accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the container of FIG. 1,

FIG. 4 is a left view of the container of FIG. 3 (front view),

FIG. 5 is a right view of the container of FIG. 3 (rear view),

FIG. 6 is an horizontal cross-section view of the container in thehorizontal plane VI-VI of FIG. 3,

FIG. 7 is a vertical cross-section view of the container in the verticalplane VII-VII of FIG. 5,

FIG. 8 is a photography of the empty container handled by a hand andviewed from the top of the container,

FIG. 9 is photography of the empty container handled by a hand andviewed for the side of the container, the container being inclined awayfrom the vertical in a ready to poor position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the particular embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 9, the plastic bottle-shapedcontainer 1 is constituted by a hollow body comprising a closed baseportion 10, a main body portion 11, a shoulder portion 12, and a neckportion 13 terminated by an opening 14 for filling or emptying thecontainer. This hollow body comprises an integrated and mouldedhand-grip generally referred 2 in the drawings, and enabling a user tosecurely and easily handle the container 1.

In this example, the plastic hollow body of the container 1 ispreferably obtained by the well-known technique of injection-stretchblow moulding, the plastic material used for making the container beingany known polymer(s) that can be used in such a technique. The structureof the container can be of the monolayer-type or multilayer-type. Forexample, when no specific gas-barrier properties for the container arerequired, the plastic container 1 can have a monolayer structure and ispreferably made of PET. The invention is however not limited to such aparticular polymer. One skilled in the art will select, in a knownmanner, the suitable structure (monolayered or multilayered structure)and the polymer(s) for making the container according to the propertiesrequired for the container.

In the particular example of FIGS. 1 to 9, the base portion 10 of thecontainer has a substantially rectangular profile in an horizontalcross-section, and the main body portion 11 essentially comprises fourvertical panels, namely: a front panel 110, a rear panel 111, and twoopposite lateral panels 112 and 113. The invention is however notlimited to this particular geometry of the container and the integratedhand-grip of the invention can be applied to any kind of geometry, andfor example to a container having a profile, in an horizontalcross-section, that is substantially circular, elliptical, . . . .

The integrated and moulded hand-grip 2 of container 1 is now going to bedescribed in details.

This hand-grip 2 is constituted by:

-   -   one recess 20, made in the rear panel 111 of the main body        portion 11, and dimensioned for receiving the palm of a user;        said recess 20 is designed therein as “palm-recess”;    -   two opposite recesses 21 and 22, made respectively in the two        lateral panels 112 and 113, and designed therein as        “finger-recesses”.

According to the preferred embodiment shown on the drawings, thefinger-recesses 21 and 22 are substantially identical and are bothdimensioned in order to receive four fingers of a user. Thus can thecontainer advantageously be handled both by a left-handed orright-handed user.

Referring to FIG. 7, the palm-recess 20 is constituted by upper andlower inward sloping portions 201, 203, and by a bottom 202 extendingbetween both upper and lower inward sloping portions 201, 203. The depthof the palm-recess 20 is referenced (d) on FIG. 7.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 6, the two finger-recesses 21 and 22 areextensions of the bottom 202 of the palm-recess 20. Referring to FIG. 6,each finger recess 21 (22) comprises a first inward sloping portion 21 a(22 a) joining the bottom 202 of the palm-recess 20, a second inwardsloping portion 21 c (22 c) opposite to the first inward portion 21 a(22 a), and a bottom 21 b (22 b) that extends between first and secondinward sloping portions 21 a and 21 c (22 a and 22 c).

The hand-grip 2 comprises five main reinforcing ribs 23 forstrengthening the hand-grip 2. The number of main ribs 23 can however bedifferent in other embodiments of the invention, and will be defined byone skilled in the art according to the level of rigidity required forthe hand-grip. The ribs 23 also advantageously improve the frictioncontact of the hand with the container, and thereby also reduce therisks of slipping out of the hand.

Each main rib 23 has a central portion 23 a, that is made on the wholewidth (L) of the bottom 202, and that extends at both extremities in thefinger-recesses 21, 22. In the particular example shown on the drawings,the ribs 23 are substantially horizontal. This particular orientation ofthe ribs 23 is not a limitation however for the invention. In otherembodiments of the invention, the ribs 23 could have a differentorientation, and/or the orientation of the ribs 23 is not necessary thesame over the whole length of the rib.

The extensions of the main ribs 23 in the finger-recesses 21, 22 arereferenced 23 b in the drawings. Preferably, but not necessarily, eachextension 23 b of a main rib 23 in the finger-recess 21 (22) terminatesin the second inward sloping portion 21 c (22 c). In another embodimentof the invention, an extension 23 b of a main rib 23 could terminate inthe bottom 21 b (22 b) of the finger-recess 21 (22) or even in the firstinward sloping portion 21 a (22 a) of the finger-recess 21 (22).

The rigidity of the hand-grip 2 also depends obviously of the thicknessof the hand-grip. One skilled in the art will knowingly choose theappropriate thickness for the hand-grip 2 in accordance with therigidity that has to be achieved. By way of example only, for theparticular container of the attached drawings, when PET is being used,good results in terms of rigidity are achieved with an average wallthickness of approximately 0.75 mm for the container wall in the regioncorresponding to the hand-grip 2.

For handling the container 1, one user positions his hand in thehand-grip 2 and pinches the hand-grip 2 in the way shown on FIGS. 8 and9. The palm of the hand's user is positioned more or less against thebottom 202 of the palm-recess 20 of the hand-grip 2; the thumb of thehand's user is positioned inside one finger-recess 21 (or 22), and thefour remaining fingers of the hand's user are positioned inside theopposite finger-recess 22 (or 21).

Preferably and optionally, as shown on FIGS. 6 and 8, the bottom 202 ofthe palm-recess 20 is convex in order to better fit the palm of thehand's user. Additionally, this convexity of the bottom 202advantageously increases the rigidity of the grip. For sake of clarity,the wording “convex” is not limited to a continuous radius curve as theone shown on FIG. 6, but encompasses any external surface for the bottom202 that is orientated outwardly; The convex bottom 202 can, forexample, be made of several facets.

When the user lifts up the container, the hand of the user is blockedessentially by the upper portion 201 of the palm-recess 20. Thanks tothis vertical blocking of the hand's user, it is possible to avoidaccidental slipping of the container out of the hand, under the weightof the container, especially when the container is filled and thusheavier. In order to obtain an optimum vertical blocking of the hand,the depth (d) of the palm recess is preferably at least equal to 5 mm,and even more preferably at least equal to 8 mm.

Furthermore, when a user handles the container 1, the fingers of thehand-user are pinching the hand-grip and are advantageously blocked bythe two opposite first inward sloping portions 21 a, 22 a of thefinger-recesses 21, 22.

Preferably, referring to FIG. 6, in order to improve the handling of thecontainer 1 and optimally reduce the risk of slipping out of the hand,the inward slope angle (A) of each first inward sloping portions 21 a,22 a is preferably at least equal to 20°, and more preferably at leastequal to 40°, and the depth (e) of each first inward sloping portions 21a, 22 a is preferably at least equal to 5 mm, and more preferably atleast equal to 10 mm. Said depth (e) can be substantially constant overthe whole height (H) of the bottom 202 or can vary along the height (H)of the bottom 202. Thanks to these preferred characteristics, thecontainer 1 can be advantageously handled without applying on thehand-grip any squeezing force to prevent the slipping out of the hand.

Preferably, in the particular embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 9, in order toadvantageously increase the rigidity of the hand-grip 2, optional smalland horizontal ribs 24 are made in at least the upper sloping portion201 of the palm-recess 20, and also in the lower sloping portion 203 ofthe palm-recess 20; optional small ribs 25 are also made at least in theupper part of the finger-recess 21, 22 and also in the lower part, ofthe finger-recess 21, 22.

In the preferred embodiment shown on the drawings, the width (L) of thebottom 202 of the palm-recess 20 is smaller than the width (W) of thepalm-recess 20 in the region of its upper or lower edges 201,203, inorder to be adapted to an average hand size of a user. It has to benoted that in the particular embodiments shown on the drawings, thewidth (L) of the bottom 202 of the palm-recess 20 is substantiallyconstant over the whole height (H) of the bottom 202. This particularfeature is not a limitation however for the invention. In otherembodiments of the invention, the width (L) of the bottom 202 of thepalm-recess 20 can vary along the height of the bottom 202. Typically,the width (L) of the whole bottom 202 of the palm-recess 20 or of a partof bottom 202 of the palm-recess 20 is preferably substantially equal to75 mm.

Furthermore, referring to FIG. 7, the height (H) of the bottom 202 ofthe palm-recess 20 has to be great enough in order to be adapted to anaverage hand size of a user. Preferably, this height (H) is at leastequal to 50 mm, and more preferably at least equal to 60 mm. Theintegrated hand-grip 2 described in reference to the attached drawingsis particularly suitable for plastic container having a large fillvolume, especially for containers having a fill volume of at least 2litres (and more preferably of at least 3 litres) and used, for example,for storing liquids (such as washing liquids, detergents, beverages, . .. ). The invention can however be applied for containers having asmaller fill volume.

1. A Plastic container comprising a hollow body with an integrated hand-grip, wherein said hand-grip is constituted by a palm-recess and two opposite finger-recesses, said two opposite finger-recesses being an extension of a bottom of said palm-recess, and the bottom of said palm-recess comprising ribs that extend in the finger-recesses.
 2. The Container according to claim 1, wherein said palm-recess has a depth of at least 5 mm.
 3. The Container according to claim 2, wherein the depth of said palm-recess is at least equal to 8 mm.
 4. The Container according to claim 1, wherein each finger-recess comprises an inward sloping portion joining the bottom of the palm-recess, and having a slope angle at least equal to 20°.
 5. The Container according to claim 4, wherein the slope angle of said inward sloping portion of a finger-recess is at least equal to 40°.
 6. The Container according to claim 1, wherein each finger-recess comprises an inward sloping portion joining the bottom of the palm-recess, and having a depth at least equal to 5 mm.
 7. The Container according to claim 6, wherein the depth of said inward sloping portion of a finger-recess is at least equal to 10 mm.
 8. The Container according to claim 1, wherein the bottom of the palm-recess is convex.
 9. The Container according to claim 1, wherein the width of the bottom of the palm-recess is smaller than the width of the palm-recess in a region of its upper or lower edges.
 10. The Container according to claim 1, wherein the width of the whole bottom of the palm-recess or of a part of the bottom of the palm-recess is preferably substantially equal to 75 mm.
 11. The Container according to claim 1, wherein the height of the bottom of the palm-recess is at least equal to 50 mm, and more preferably at least equal to 60 mm.
 12. The Container according to claim 1, and having a fill volume of at least 2 liters, and more preferably of at least 3 liters. 